Missy Elliott Helped Orchestrate "It's All About the Benjamins"

So says Sheek Louch.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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"It's All About the Benjamins" is one of the most classic posse cuts in rap history. It's the type of track that inspires seething arguments over which rapper had the best verse. But according to Sheek Louch — who, it should be noted, has the best verse! [Editor's note: Lil' Kim had the verse] — the track came together thanks to Missy Elliott. Louch says she was responsible for recruiting The LOX for the song before subsequently removing Styles P from it becuase she thought his verse wack. Read that sentence again and really think about how bad ass it is that a female rapper kicked Styles P off of a record that isn't even hers.

This information was revealed during Sheek's recent appearance at Cipha Sounds"Take It Personal: The Hip Hop Improv Show" at NYC's Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. As transcribed by HipHopDX:

“I remember we first got there with Puff. Me, Kiss, and Styles walked in the room and there was this girl in there and shit,” said Sheek. “And they was listening to that beat. At first I didn’t like it…She was talking to me like she knew me. ‘Yo, let me hear you rap to that.’ ‘First of all, who are you?’ She’s dancing and shit. She’s making beatboxing noises and shit while she like ‘Yo, let me hear you spit something to this.’ So, I said ‘alright’…So, I did my first verse—‘strictly tryna cop those’—it wasn’t even for that. I did it. Styles did something; she was like ‘meh.’ Jada did a verse to it. I swear to God, no diss to Styles. That’s my brother. Jada did his verse and shit she was like ‘Yo.’ He [Styles P] ain’t on the record and shit. And then she was like ‘You gon’ go here, you gon’ go here, y’all two, you and Kiss, gonna write Puff’s verse.’ Then she just walked off beatboxing. Later on that was Missy Elliott…But we didn’t know that was her. She put the whole ‘Benjamins’ together.”

[via HipHopDX]

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